Sarasvati

Sarasvati, Hindu goddess of learning and the arts, especially music. First appearing as the personification of the sacred river Sarasvati and also identified with Vac, the goddess of speech, she is later named the consort, daughter, or granddaughter of the god Brahma. She is regarded as the patroness of art, music, and letters and as the inventor of the Sanskrit language. She is usually represented as riding on a goose of pure white that is able to undertake long flights and holding a lute and a manuscript or book. In modern times her mount has frequently been represented as a swan. Sarasvati is worshipped at the advent of spring (January–February), when her image is taken out in jubilant procession, but she is also invoked perennially and at examination times by students and by artists and performers of all kinds. Sarasvati is also popular in Jain and Buddhist mythology.

Sarasvati, from a manuscript of the lyric poem “Meghaduta,” Rajasthani style, early 18th century; in a private collection.Pramod Chandra

The river Sarasvati is revered above all others in the Vedas (a collection of poems and hymns) and is by far the one most frequently mentioned. Because it corresponds to none of the major rivers of present-day South Asia, it has for centuries been regarded as subtle or mythic, converging unseen with the Ganges and Jamuna rivers when they flow together at Prayag (Allahabad). The millions of pilgrims who participate in the great religious festival Kumbh Mela every 12 years at this site are thus said to bathe in the tri-veni (“triple confluence”), as do all pilgrims to Prayag, which is therefore sometimes called “king of tirthas (sacred places).”

A major debate at the beginning of the 21st century focused on whether the Vedic Sarasvati corresponds to a major dry riverbed forming part of the Indus complex and containing many unexcavated archaeological sites. If so, this forgotten Sarasvati might provide a major link between Vedic and Indus Valley cultures.